JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Growth is not an entitlement and capital investment is not a given. These were two key points that Minerals Council South Africa CEO Mzila Mthenjane emphasised during a Mining Equipment Manufacturers of South Africa (Memsa) event at Montecasino on Friday.

Scrutinised were the implications for South Africa of the Middle East conflict, with the big focus on what this country’s original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can do in the face of geopolitical disruption.

How South Africans can work together to best effect during the current period of geopolitical uncertainty was highlighted.

“Yes, we need to fix our electricity and logistics infrastructure but I think there's a lot more work that we need to think about, that we need to do, that will be sustaining for the long term,” Mthenjane pointed out during a panel discussion, which was moderated by Baletsema Holdings’ Bokang Kelepa, with panel members including Memsa chairperson Matimba Mahange, who is also the CEO of JA Engineering, Leschaco sub-Saharan Africa CEO Pieter Schmidt-Loffier, Export Credit Insurance Corporation economist Nezo Sobekwa and many of the large contingent of attendees who put across many vital points during one-on-one interviews with Mining Weekly.

Countries with rich mineral endowments, such as South Africa and many others in Africa, often assumed wrongly that mining development and economic growth should automatically follow, “but a wise geologist once said, whilst it's still in the ground, it's rock, and so we can attribute a lot of money to it, trillions and trillions of dollars. We can talk about how wealthy we are beneath the surface of the earth… but it’s only capital investment that will enable the conversion of the deemed minerals to prosperity,” Mthenjane recalled.

“As we've seen in the past, when mining performs the whole country performs,” he said, while adding that mining development is the way to create inclusive economic growth that floats all boats.

“Whether it's in South Africa or outside of South Africa, we actually all know what needs to be done and the question is, well then, why aren't we doing it?

“I've kind of reduced it to the fact that to do it, the thinking of leadership has to be aligned, bold decisions have to be taken that are selfless, that benefit the country and steps have to be taken to advance the vision of how this country can be a better country.”

Emphasised was how South Africa’s OEMs should tackle global, continental and local opportunities with collaboration paramount and local mining development needing to be comprehensively stimulated.

When it comes to fostering growth, Mahange emphasised the importance of collective policy-influencing action to grow South Africa's OEM base for self-reliance.

Mahange drew strong attention to the critical role of local production and also, during this period of major fuel uncertainty, the vital importance of Sasol in maintaining South Africa's energy mix.

“If we didn't have Sasol…where would we be?,” Mahange asked, while also advocating the advantage of Memsa members “hunting in packs” in facing today’s challenges.

Mahange then introduced Mining Weekly to Bell Equipment CEO Ashley Bell, who spoke of the need for South Africa’s OEMs to come to terms with the new state of normal being global uncertainty.

“We’ve got to focus on influencing what’s in our control. We’ve got some markets that are doing all right for us and other markets that are struggling at the moment.

“Africa has been good for us. It’s been good for the last couple of years. We remain passionate about South Africa, contributing to the economy here, providing employment to people, standing by our customers, and ensuring that we maintain a leading position in the space that we play in.

“But anyone running a business today has to be concerned about what's going on out there, and the impact of the skyrocketing oil prices. It’s pervasive and it's going to impact absolutely every area of our lives and businesses.

“So, I think really, the trick right now is to remain as agile as we can, and roll with the punches and try to get through the challenges that the next couple of months might pose,” said Bell.

Schmidt-Loffier, of international freight forwarding company Leschaco, described the present state of global logistics as being challenging.

“But there's nothing that you can't overcome if you deal with it the right way, and that's part of global shipping, you always need to find the right solution for your customers to get around challenges.

“The higher oil price means higher shipping costs, and there will be delays. Shipping used to be easy but nowadays, everything changes on a daily basis so we deal with it on a daily basis.

“We communicate about difficulties, which is never nice to communicate bad news, but the earlier you can communicate challenges, the more the customers can prepare themselves,” Schmidt-Loffier explained.

MechProTech director Evan Bird reported that most of the work for MechProTech – an OEM that deals in the beneficiation space – was in Africa, where new mines were being developed, and emphasised the need for the development of new mines in South Africa.

Demand for MechProTech in Africa was also in the junior mining space and Bird would like to see South African policy change that also stimulated development within the junior mining space.

With Iran very much in the news, RM Process MD Rogan Roulstone outlined the successful experiences that RM Process had had in helping to develop a copper concentrator project in Iran, where he found the people to be very accommodating and helpful, and very well educated and easy to get along with.

Obsideo CEO Cobus Robertson commented that current world uncertainty and the solid commodity focus it spawned translated into demand for the services of Obsideo, which specialised in designing, constructing, operating mineral processing plants, and in future also likely finding funding solutions for clients.

“We’re a multi-commodity-focused company… and in Africa, we’re already established in about 13 different countries,” Robertson added.

Interestingly, Minerals Council CEO Mthenjane was very upbeat about the South Africa of today where improvement was no longer an ‘if’ but a ‘when’: ” When we get it right, I think it’s going to be so much better, and I think the politicians will be surprised to realise how many South Africans are still behind South Africa.”